The Dong Giao Foodstuff Export Joint Stock Company (DOVECO) in Tam Diep Town, Ninh Binh Province was established in 1955 and operates under the Vietnam National Vegetable, Fruit and Agricultural Product Corporation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. With four modern production lines, the company is capable to make 25,000 tonnes of products each year. DOVECO is a leading provider of processed agricultural products in Vietnam. It is also the first company to bring Vietnamese fruit and vegetables to the world market.

Pham Ngoc Thanh, the director of DOVECO, said that to satisfy customer needs on the domestic market and especially the world market, the company has made nonstop efforts to improve the quality and diversify its products. DOVECO pays primary attention to ensuring the hygiene of products and protecting the environment. The company not only uses modern equipment and applies advanced technology but also actively seeks ways to ensure energy efficiency.

With consultancy and support from the Hanoi Energy Conservation Center under the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade, the Dong Giao Foodstuff Export Joint Stock Company has undergone an energy audit to seek possibilities for reducing the production cost. The auditors have proposed 13 solutions which can help the company save about VND3.4 billion each year by using less electricity, coal and oil. These solutions are believed to help the company make higher revenue and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, thus preventing environmental pollution and ensuring the safety and hygiene of products.

To make the lighting system energy-efficient, the company can replace 200 T10 fluorescent lamps using electromagnetic ballasts with T8 lamps using electronic ballasts and replace 250 high-pressure mercury lamps with 75W compact lamps. This solution will allow the company to save VND43 million each year.

The company has coal-fired steam boilers that are used to make canned food and fruit juice. Due to the distance between these steam boilers and other production facilities, the company has to use long steam pipelines, leading to considerable heat losses. Insulating the steam pipelines from loss of heat is a solution that will allow the company to save VND60 million each year by reducing coal consumption by 24 tonnes.

The recovery of used heat at the bottling facility for reuse at the sterilization stage will allow the company to save hot water. With this solution, the company will be able to save 58 tonnes of coal or VND144 million each year.

DOVECO can reduce fuel consumption also at the condensing stage. By (1) insulating all the steam pipelines and condensed product pipelines, (2) improving the pipelines to minimize heat losses at the condensing stage, and (3) recovering steam at the condensing facility for use at the sterilization stage, the company will be able to save 48 tonnes of coal and more than 19 tonnes of oil or VND260 million a year. Initial investment in those three solutions is estimated to total more than VND360 million.

If it installs inverters for the water pump system and the air conditioning compressor system, the company will be able to save about VND110 million annually. The installation of inverters for two 15kW water pumps will allow the company to save 18,000kWh of electricity or more than VND21 million. The company can save 76,000kWh of electricity or VND88 million each year by installing inverters for two air conditioning compressors (55kW and 100kW). The installation of inverters will make those two types of equipment less power-consuming and more durable.

Another solution proposed by the auditors is to replace existing steam boilers using diesel oil with steam boilers using coal dust. With this solution, the company can save more than VND2.2 billion each year and the amount of investment capital can be recovered in seven months.

Hoang Quan, the head of the auditor team from the Hanoi Energy Conservation Center, analyzed that if it uses diesel oil, the company will have to spend much money on fuel use because diesel oil prices are very high. The use of coal-fired steam boilers will allow the company to reduce the expenditure on fuel use to only one sixth and minimize heat losses. Though the automation capability of coal-fired steam boiler is lower than that of diesel oil-fueled steam boilers, coal-fired steam boilers are more energy-efficient.

Hoang Quan emphasized that the energy audit was just the first step of the entire energy management process. In his opinion, the company must have a long-term strategy for energy conservation. Along with taking the technical solutions proposed by the auditors, the company must encourage all its staff members to join in efforts to save and use energy effectively throughout the production process.

By Tran Lieu